Stopped snowing around 3pm but by then we'd had a fabulous day involving powder snow (on and off piste), trees, some "unscheduled rest stops" and face shots to round things off. To make things even more fabulous, we saw a chamois as we downloaded on the gondola, then saw a few more as we waited for the shuttle back to the hotel. We also had confirmation that the HUGE birds we saw yesterday on the way back from La thuile were actually Bearded Vultures, not eagles as we'd thought. Sadly we didn't manage to meet Stilltortoise during our visit to LT, although we did wave at Grum and Crewlie when we dropped over the border into France and got a great view of the Aiguille Rouge, Villaroger and the Arc 2000 bowl. pics to follow

If you look closely you can see me waving back from Villaroger. Everywhere out of the 2000 bowl was closed except for a little drag lift into the Villaroger sector. Great snow but bad visibility, must have been earlier than your photo.
10 years coming here and not a sign of a chamois or a vulture...you can go off people

Cairngorm was fantastic yesyerday after the sun came out and the CM folk dug out the funicular track to get the train running.

hopefully heading back up the mountain for a winter (walking) skills course with Glenmore Lodge today. Weather is a different story today though. Interestingly have been issued shovel, probe and transceiver which are being trialled on courses. Getting some basic training with those will be an unexpected bonus.

Another fab day of powder, trees, unscheduled rest stops and beer. The snow is falling again (it was fine and clear this morning, the snow started early afternoon) but we're leaving at stupid o'clock in the morning. Apparently it's forecast to snow for the next TEN DAYS, so if you are looking for a last minute break you could do worse than consider Courmayeur. It's been great.

I'm thinking of taking the kids to Scotland to give them a short introduction to skiing, any recommendations, do's and dont's which station/resort? Accomodation? We're looking at going around March 8th. So will obviously be keeping a close eye on conditions.

TheDTs - I would recommend Cairngorm/Aviemore resort. Either staying in Aviemore or very nearby. There is the mountain train (funicular) for them to enjoy the ride up and down. Cafe/restaurant at the top and bottom of the hill. Nice gentle slopes and plenty of snow.

A topic that cropped up on the Olympic thread, but let's ask it here as well!

Mittens or gloves? And why?

Also - Idiot strings round the wrists. Does anyone NOT use them?

For me, as a result of a while in the ski world, I have several sets, all of which are gloves. I tend to run warm, and so don't really need the extra warmth of a mitten. My current fave are a pair of TNF Decagon;

I use idiot loops all the time. I had some dakine scouts and was impressed but they didnt last a huge amount of time. Saw some Dakine Titans cheap while skiing in Solitude and picked themup - think they were about $90

although mines a slight different colour scheme and the zip's a bit different, it being an older model. The inner glove is not secured by velcro or anything so it can come out easily, but to be honest I've rarely used them anyway